Alexander Terentyev, Director of the Department of Consumer Protection of Financial Services of the Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market of the Republic of Kazakhstan, told about this and much more during a live broadcast.

– There was an overdue debt on my loan. What to do and where to apply?

– In May 2021, amendments and additions were made to some legislative acts, according to which, from October 1, 2021, Kazakhstan has a single legal regime for the settlement of problem debts of borrowers – individuals by credit institutions. Thus, lenders are obliged to notify the borrower of the overdue loans within 20 days from the moment of its occurrence. In the notification, banks and organizations engaged in microfinance activities (hereinafter referred to as OOMFD) must inform citizens about the need to make payments indicating the exact amount of the delay, tell them about their right to contact them and the consequences of non–fulfillment of their credit obligations.

If you have overdue loan debt, you need to contact the bank or the OOMFD for loan restructuring with a written application or in any other way that is prescribed in the contract within 30 days from the date of the delay.

In your application, you must specify:

– the reason for non-fulfillment of their obligations. It is important to have on hand documents confirming the difficulties you have encountered;

– your options for fulfilling obligations. You can offer, for example: a change in the direction of reducing the interest rate, a deferred payment, a change in the term of the contract, the repayment method, the creation of a new payment schedule, taking into account your financial situation, or the independent sale of collateral.

The lender must accept your application, register and review it, and provide a response within 15 calendar days:

– agree by accepting the changes you have proposed to the terms of the contract;

– provide your suggestions for changing the terms of the contract;

– refuse, but with an indication of a reasoned justification of the reasons.

Amendments to the terms of the agreement are made within 15 calendar days from the date of such a decision by the creditor.

If you fail to reach a mutually acceptable decision on changing the terms of the agreement, you have the right to contact the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market (hereinafter – the Agency).

In order to determine a unified approach by creditors to the settlement of overdue debts of citizens, the Agency has identified the main cases in which the borrower has the right to apply for amendments to the terms of the contract:

– registration of the borrower as unemployed in the employment authorities;

– a change in the social status of the borrower, namely, the assignment to socially vulnerable segments of the population, as well as obtaining the status of a cohabiting close relative, spouse of the borrower, which affected the decrease in the average monthly income;

– temporary disability of the borrower (more than 3 months) due to illness;

– the borrower's going on parental leave;

– conscription of the borrower for military service;

– family circumstances related to the illness (among socially significant diseases) of close relatives, spouse of the borrower or death;

– circumstances that caused material damage to the borrower (theft, fire, etc.).

This list is not exhaustive and may be supplemented depending on the situation that affected your ability to fulfill obligations under the contract on the current terms.

You must provide the lender with information about the current financial and social situation, document the fact of a decrease or lack of income that allows you to fulfill obligations under the contract.

Additionally, the banks were instructed to take appropriate measures in order to settle overdue debts of the bank's customers on loans issued. So, creditors need to:

– before debt collection in court, it is mandatory to carry out the debt settlement procedure;

– bring internal regulatory documents regulating the procedure for the settlement of overdue debts in compliance with the requirements of the legislation;

– to ensure the allocation of a separate hotline for calls from borrowers to provide advice on the settlement of problem debts.

If the creditor did not work with the debtor to settle the problem debt and filed a lawsuit with the court to recover the debt, the court will automatically return such a claim without consideration, since the pre-trial settlement procedure was not followed.

If you have not been able to reach an agreement with the lender, then you have the right to apply to the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market. At the same time, it is necessary to provide confirmation of your application to the bank and the failure to reach a mutually acceptable solution.

It should be noted that the Agency intends to popularize the widespread use of alternative institutions of pre-trial, out-of-court dispute settlement and develop an algorithm of actions for financial market entities. Explanatory work with credit organizations and collection agencies on the mandatory procedure of pre-trial and out-of-court dispute settlement is carried out by the financial regulator within the framework of the Memorandum of Cooperation concluded between the Agency and the Supreme Court, the priority purpose of which is to strengthen the protection of borrowers' rights.So, since April 2022, the Agency has been holding online meetings with regional representatives of banks, OOMFD, private bailiffs, notary chamber, regional courts and professional mediators to discuss the application of a unified legal regime for the settlement of problem debts of borrowers and the role of professional mediators in the settlement of disputes between borrowers and credit organizations.

– What should I do if my personal data was inadvertently transferred to third parties, how can I check if fraudsters have issued a loan in my name?

– You can find out about such a loan yourself in your personal credit report, which contains full information about your credit history.

It needs to be checked by everyone on a periodic basis, even if you do not have loans now, or you have never taken them. Tracking your credit history is a kind of insurance against fraudsters.

In accordance with the law, you have the right to get your full credit history once a year for free.

You can request a personal credit report from credit bureaus:

in the State Credit Bureau (SCB) – by contacting through the website id.mkb.kz . A personal credit report is provided by SCB free of charge and without restrictions on the number of reports issued.

in the First Credit Bureau (PKB) – through portals www.1cb.kz , e-government www.egov .kz, as well as in the public service centers (PSC) at the place of residence or in the branches of JSC "Kazpost".

The credit history is stored for 5 years after the date of receipt of the latest information. The information is updated only by banks and other credit organizations in which you had loans.

Information providers are required to inform the credit bureau within 15 working days from the date of change or receipt of any data in the credit history. Collection agencies – within 30 calendar days.

In order to protect the rights of consumers of financial services and improve the credit history of borrowers, in April 2022, the Agency, together with the PKB, launched a remote process of challenging information in the credit history on the website Fingramota.kz .

It is possible to challenge the information contained in the personal credit report: if there is a current delay in the repaid payment in the credit history; if there is a debt under a closed contract;

when applying for a loan fraudulently to the applicant; if the applicant saw in the credit report a request for a credit history from an organization to which he did not give consent; when displaying incorrect personal data information; in the absence of the status "rehabilitated" under credit contracts that meet the requirements of the rehabilitation rules.

The service for challenging incorrect information reflected in the credit history is provided free of charge, online.

– I found out about a valid loan from a microfinance organization, while I did not issue any microloans. What to do in this situation? What needs to be done?

 

– When issuing micro-loans electronically by organizations engaged in microfinance activities, the following methods are used to identify and authenticate the client:

1) electronic digital signature of the client;

2) biometric identification of the client through the use of the services of the Identification Data Exchange Center (IDC) on the basis of the Kazakhstan Interbank Settlement Center of the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan;

3) two-factor authentication of the client.

If the identity card has been lost or stolen, it is necessary to contact the PSC at the place of residence and the nearest police station. Be sure to take a certificate of loss of documents with an indication of the date. In case of fraud with identity documents, this certificate will become your main proof that you did not take a micro-loan or a bank loan.

Be sure to study your personal credit report, if you find a valid loan in it that you have not issued, then you need to write an application to the credit institution in which it is issued.

In the application, indicate that you have not signed a contract and have not received a tag. Emphasize that the signature in the contract is forged, or the identification was not passed by you, ask the credit institution for copies of the contract, its appendices, as well as the details of the account to which the money was transferred. Specify the details of the employee who issued the loan and executed the contract.

In the same statement, demand to conduct an internal investigation and stop demanding from you a debt under a contract that you did not conclude.

During the investigation, experts will examine recordings from video cameras in the office, scans of contract documents, phone records, etc.

If the loan was issued in credit cards, then recordings from video cameras installed in them will help identify the recipient. A handwriting examination will also be appointed, which will establish that the recipient's signature is not in the loan agreement.Detecting online fraud is more difficult and will take longer. But it's also possible.

If the credit institution refuses to provide documents, you can submit an application to the Agency.

If the credit institution does not find evidence that fraudsters have received money from your personal data, it is necessary to file a lawsuit with the court at the place of residence to invalidate the transaction. Be sure to attach all available documents.

In case of a court decision in your favor, the lender will stop demanding payment of the debt from you, will send a letter to the credit bureau about the exclusion of information on a "foreign" loan from your credit history.

– Tell me, please, does the Agency consider only official appeals? And how can they be served?

– If you believe that a bank, insurance company, microfinance organization, brokerage or management company violated your rights, if you have not reached an agreement with the lender, if additional services are imposed on you, then contact the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market.

You can send official appeals:

in writing – at the address: A15C9T5, Almaty, Koktem-3 microdistrict, 21; via the Egov e-government portal.kz; through the Offices of regional representatives – by territorial affiliation. The list of territorial administrations can be found on the Agency's website.

Based on your request, a documentary check will be initiated against the credit institution, and after the completion of the verification measures, the Agency will provide an assessment of the actions of a financial or microfinance organization.

For advice on the protection of the rights and interests of consumers of financial services, explanations of the norms of current legislation in the banking, insurance, pension, securities market, as well as in matters related to the activities of organizations engaged in microfinance activities and collection agencies, you can contact the Agency:

– by means of the Call center by the short number: 1459. Working hours: on weekdays from 10.00 to 17.00, lunch break – from 13.00 to 14.30;

– through the mobile application "FingramotaOnline", which can be downloaded from the links: Inappstore, Inplaymarket. In addition, a web version of the mobile application is available: http://online.fingramota.kz/ru .

The Agency also receives citizens both offline and online via audio conferencing, on a weekly basis: on Tuesday and Friday from 10:00-13:00 hours.

To make an appointment, you must send to the following email address: Yermek.Utemisov@finreg .kz the following data: full name, IIN, contact details, full name of the organization, a brief description of the request and be sure to specify the topic "Appointment".

The appeal is written in any form and in as much detail as possible. In the request, be sure to specify contact details: surname, first name, patronymic, postal address or email address to which you want to receive an answer, phone number and preferably IIN.

The more details you provide, the faster the Agency staff will be able to help you.Try to state the essence of the problem as clearly and consistently as possible, keeping the chronology of events: specify all significant dates, events and names of employees of organizations with which you have interacted.

Specify all the data and details that may relate to the content of the complaint. For example, the number of the contract and the date of its conclusion, the number of the insurance policy and the details of the driver's license — in the complaint on auto insurance.

You can attach to the appeal:copies of correspondence with the organization you are complaining about or with its representatives, including correspondence by e-mail; copies of any documents and materials confirming the validity of the complaint and the information contained therein.

The application must be certified with a personal signature or an electronic digital signature.

Never send the above information via messengers, social networks and other unsecured communication channels, because this information can be used by financial fraudsters.

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